


Lying and liars

by jarofactonbell



Category: Golden Child (Korea Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M, cat and mouse pursuit of love, golcha? idols? i only know golcha as the band of spies, just the right amount of questioning pain, many feels but not angst because i promised my friend no pain, spy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 10:05:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15531894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jarofactonbell/pseuds/jarofactonbell
Summary: It goes something like this:Jibeom lies and Joochan refuses to heed the lines between the lies and wouldn't it be funny if they both hear what the other is saying?A golcha spy AU where nothing is really concrete





	Lying and liars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bandable](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bandable/gifts).



> Hey syd(neigh), THIS MIGHT BE LATE BUT IT IS STILL YA BIRTHDAY AND IT IS SO SHORT URGH BUT HAVE IT I LOVE YOU 
> 
> if you want it to be longer just tell me

Everybody knows Jibeom lies. Quite easily and quite guiltlessly.

It’s all part of the job. They know that. It’s all part of their jobs - they know that. Lying is essential in the field they all partake in.

But they made a pact, long ago. They will never outwardly lie to one another, because this world is of lies and liars but they will have each other and all they have are each other. 

Jibeom though - Jibeom is bound by no oath. He is only around because he wants to be around. No one is sure of his loyalties.

It frightens the boys sometimes, how the guy breathes out lies one after another. They’re never quite sure with him. He has a good face, lovely voice, really likable personality and just - a good human in general. Why tarnish it with lying?

No one really knows. As much as he seems open, he is a closed book. He lies so well, the lie intermittent with the pretence of truth that no matter how much squinting one does unto him, they cannot decipher the lie in the truth, the interweaving cobweb of what is and what isn’t.

They just let it slide, because it’s Jibeom. He’s a pretty one. A deadly one. His skills are undoubted. The moral of this industry is that if you are useful, you will never go out of business.

Jibeom never goes out of business and the lies keep on stacking.

 

It goes something like this.

Joochan - big voice, nice eyes, a golden head of hair and heart. A golden boy. Literally golden. He has an eye mutation that alters his irises to be this caramel shade that distracts others when they are out on their job - what colour are those orbs, really?

Joochan himself doesn’t know, but he welcomes any guesses. He always has a big golden heart.

And his entrance into their headquarters, conspicuously concealed and just as easily dismantled by one blonde, is nothing less of dramatic.

"Hi I'm Joochan," he introduces himself, waving a screwdriver about, knife capped and inside his pocket. "Nice place. I want to join your crew."

Jibeom intercepts him, takes him away from the damage and the forthcoming wrath of Jangjun who  _designed that door for twelve days how the hecking platypus did a child take that apart in two minutes recruit him for me so I can beat him!_

"Don't give your name away so easily," he tells the newbie, fresh eyed and naive and _shouldn't be here._  

"Shall I have a fake name then?" 

"You missed your opportunity to lie, now you're stuck with the truth," Jibeom sighs. There's something like amusement, grudging as it is, in his words. "Though you may want to keep that to yourself until you ascertain that you can trust others."

"Don't you trust the teammates that you have now?" Joochan questions, droopy eyelids and golden irises widening. 

"Now why would I do that?" Jibeom answers him, smile slicing up more than half his face.

Jangjun clamours down from his lab, blubbering about  _the nasty who ruined my stuff who are you_ and Jibeom retreats, slinking away.

"Who are you?" Joochan calls out.

"Don't bother, he won't tell you. He's given us three different names by this week already. I don't even know his name," Jangjun mutters, inspecting the intruder. "Well I guess you passed our preliminary test. You're hired, sport."

Later on, in an infiltration, the softest 'The name is Kim, Kim Jaebum' is whispered into his ears and Joochan tosses his head and laughs.

He doesn't find out what Jibeom's name is until two weeks after. Jibeom asks him to check his clothing tag and resizing his shirt where Joochan glimpses the name on the back. K. Jibeom.

"Jibeom?" He whispers, breath fanning on Jibeom's neck.

"Ah, my name is revealed," the man steps away. "How unfortunate."

"Are you trusting me with this information?" Joochan teases.

"Now why would you think that?" Jibeom steps away. "Do as you wish, Hong."

 

It goes something like this.

Jibeom may lie with his mouth but what he doesn’t say is what he is honest about. The boys may not know his motives but they know that he cares enough to stick around and he would be in some ways inconvenienced if any of them happen to drop dead or paraplegic. He’s lovely that way.

“What’s on the menu today, kids?” Daeyeol prompts and gets disgruntled suggestions from the probably-awake and the delirious. “You need to supplement something in ya before you’re knocked into next week. Tell me before I go and make vegetarian burgers.”

Jibeom craddles Joochan’s head under his spreading palms. His face is a practiced blankness, the corners of his mouth resting in a drooping line. He blinks. Once. Then again.

“Something with soy for this one, please,” his voice is hoarse. He might’ve been the one who led all of them into the getaway car, away from the danger of falling flash bang grenades. “Oh dear. He’s caving under.”

Daeyeol exchanges a look with Sungyoon who shrugs, perplexed at the request. Did he...exhibit care? Was he caring? Is he lying about the soy? Was that a joke by blank faced Jibeom? How could one discern the concern from that dry tone?

“One soy milkshake comin’ straight up,” Daeyeol announces anyway, sneaking glances at Jibeom examining Joochan’s closed eyes with the intensity of a scientist observing a specimen of sample E.coli under a microscope lens.

"You think he'll be right?" Sungyoon queries, seeking no answer.

"He'll be fine," Jibeom replies, curt, no movement wasted in transferring Joochan's head onto a makeshift elevated space.

"And you?"

Jibeom doesn't meet his eyes. Sungyoon waits, counts to five. Brown eyes, betraying nothing from the frosty exterior. A half smile. 

"I've seen better days."

 

It goes something like this.

Joochan had been hurt during an escort mission and Jibeom’s eyes cloud over in the darkest shade affordable for someone with dark eyes. He’s seething in closeted fury and Seungmin visibly pales, hands deftly weaving stitches against the side of Joochan’s neck. The gash wasn’t that deep, but blood is pouring and skin is not closing and Joochan’s eyelids are clouds obscuring the sun of his pupils and he’s slipping in and out of cloudy weather and storms brewing. It’s dangerous - he’s losing a lot more blood and fluid than they expected, car veering and skidding wheels on asphalt, Bomin throwing the steering wheel from one rotation to another, clockwise, anticlockwise. Jibeom is still wearing his suit, caked with blood and dirt and bullets ricocheting off the bulletproof car windows. Pushing Seungmin and Joochan under, he rolls down a window and throws his torso out, knives and guns dropping from his sleeves.

"Where did you get -"

"Down," he seethes, forcing Seungmin under, "keep yourself out of this."

"What about you though?" The medic wonders because he's seen blood on that rented suit and it can't not hurt.

"I have a debt to settle," he cocks his gun, looks through the lens. "Down or your head will be blown up."

"Gee, Kim, it's like you almost care," Joochan's mutter floats out from the split second silence between reloading bullets. Jibeom fires two rapid shots in the dark. Silence, then thudding of bodies and vehicles. Bomin takes a turn and stops, occupants in the car skidding forward.

"Now why would you think that?" Jibeom withdraws his gun and disassembles the pieces.

Joochan gives him a dopey smile, breathing shallowly, leaning against Seungmin.

 

Jibeom has a kill summon. He pockets the order, crumbles it inside his pocket. _Hong Joochan_ , it reads. Must be executed as soon as possible. Consequences to follow if failure occurs. 

"What's that?" Sungyoon looks at his pocket.

"Lost gold of the Olmecs," Jibeom answers, breezy, "too much for you to handle."

"How boring," the older man shoots back, "be careful. Too much wealth burns."

"How would I get burnt? I know how to distance myself from fire."

"Distance won't always soothe the burns, dear!"

Jibeom doesn't answer. 

"Don't burn yourself out, Kim." Sungyoon looks at the retreating back.

"Now why would I do that?"

"We care and we will welcome you back if you choose it so," the man continues. Jibeom never responds to that address.

 

It goes something like this.

Joochan would ask him. “Do you care about me?”

Jibeom would reply. “Now why would you think that?”

"Because I think it truth?"

"Wouldn't it be funny then, darling," Jibeom smiles though one side of his face remains rigid, "if it was true?"

"I'm getting better at realising your lies," Joochan knocks teeth on tongue, raises trauma from flesh. "Won't you lie to me then?"

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," Jibeom turns to walk away. Perhaps to never return. "Do as you wish. Understand lies as you wish."

**Author's Note:**

> Look I tried to not make it angsty it could've been angstier where Jibeom cries and breaks down
> 
> [I am available here (Twitter)](https://twitter.com/jarofactonbell)   
>  [please feed a hungry child](https://ko-fi.com/jarofactonbell)   
>  [I am also available here (Curious Cat)](https://curiouscat.me/jenny_benny)


End file.
